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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25819879">Binding Resolution</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/death_frisbee/pseuds/death_frisbee'>death_frisbee</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A Hat in Time (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(I know I know but give it a chance), (It's like a choose-your-own-adventure story), (except there's only one adventure and it's the one I've already chosen), Alternate Origin Story, Attempted Fix-It, F/M, Gen, IT'S NOT READER X, Mild Horror, No Proofreading We Die Like Men, POV Second Person, Time Travel, canonical bad relationship, mild violence, pre-ending post-Snatcher battle, reader is Hat Kid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 12:48:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,330</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25819879</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/death_frisbee/pseuds/death_frisbee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What should have been an easy Time Piece grab in Subcon Forest goes wrong, and Hat Kid finds herself back hundreds of years. The forest is bright and happy, the Queen is paying a visit, and the Prince of the land is about to make a very terrible decision.</p><p>You're not really supposed to meddle with the past, but it might be worth it, just this once.<br/>~<br/>(a.k.a. Hat Kid tries to fix things and it goes as well as you'd expect.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>The Prince/Queen Vanessa (A Hat in Time)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>82</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I KNOW SECOND PERSON ISN'T IDEAL BUT YANNO I WANT THAT VIDEO GAME VIBE.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               You get the pings just after coming in to warm up after spending some time at the Alpine Skyline. Not one, but TWO timepieces down in the Subcon Forest. For a moment, you wonder how that could have happened. But then again, you got two during the whole Bird Awards fiasco, so you guess it’s not THAT strange. And, to be honest, spending some time in a forest with plenty of fires—even if it’s a spooky forest—sounds <em>really </em>nice after all that time in the mountains.</p><p>               So down you go to Subcon Forest.</p><p>               Your hat tells you that they’re over in the Village, and you’ll get there in just a minute. But first, you have something much more important to do.</p><p>               “I’m not giving you anything else, kid. Get lost.”</p><p>               At this point in the game, you’ve come to pay Snatcher a visit every time you’ve come back to Subcon. Maybe you really do want to be his friend, but also maybe you want to rub it in his glowy face that you got around his contract. Both work. And, despite trying his hardest to murder you a while ago, he lets you hang around without any harm done just like the contract says. He really is a man—well, more like a ghost-noodle—of his word.</p><p>               So you take a moment to go through his house. It’s pretty sparse save for the bookshelves, but really, what does a ghost actually need? The books are interesting, though; he hadn’t struck you as the reading type when you’d been fulfilling your contractual obligations, but he has plenty. Most are law books. There’s a couple steamy romances. And one very thin book that doesn’t seem like it fits in with the others.</p><p>               “Legally, I’m not able to kill you right now. But you really should know that I’ve mentally killed you at <em>least </em>eight times in this visit alone.”</p><p>               You ignore him and pull out the thin book, thumbing through it. It’s a picture book, titled “The Tale of Queen Vanessa.” You vaguely recall seeing something like this in a Time Rift, but you’re way too old for picture books and ignored it. Now, though, seeing it in <em>Snatcher’s </em>home of all places, it’s suddenly very interesting.</p><p>               A couple. The girl walks through the forest with woodland creatures, the boy buys her flowers. But she thinks he’s holding hands with the florist, and that girl starts to look like that horrifying monster that chased you in the manor. And then there’s the boy in chains, left as a shadow with glowying eyes and looking startlingly familiar.</p><p>               Your head snaps up, nearly knocking the hat off your head, and you look at the shadowy figure in front of you. You waste no time in slapping the book on the arm of his chair. You need answers and you need them <em>now.</em> Snatcher, however, keeps his eyes fixed on the book in his hands.</p><p>               “You want me to <em>read </em>to you? I know you’re not bright, kiddo, but that’s a new level of delusional. <em>Scram</em>.”</p><p>               You frown at him, then sigh and look down at the book again. <em>Fine. </em>It’s probably just made-up anyway. You wouldn’t be surprised if some of his minions tried to make fanfiction of him to make him look nicer. And anyway, you have some Time Pieces to collect.</p><p>               But you put the storybook in your backpack all the same.</p><p>~</p><p>               At this point, you could probably pick up Time Pieces in your sleep. The first one wasn’t even that hard to get, you just had to climb up some of those weird spirit boxes. The second’s a little trickier and involves the spirit boxes, some grappling, and a couple chores before you can get to it. But in all, much easier than trying to lead a parade or <em>stopping a whole train from blowing up</em>, so who are you to complain? This is a cinch.</p><p>               And…maybe that’s the problem.</p><p>               Because it was so easy to get, you’re not paying attention. And since you’re not paying attention, you’re not quite as focused when it comes time to grab it.</p><p>               And that’s when the Time Piece slips from your fingers and hurtles down to the ground.</p><p>               Back home, one of the first things you learn about Time Pieces is that you are NEVER, under any circumstances, supposed to let them drop. First off, it’s a waste of fuel. Secondly, they create Time Rifts, which are a pain to clean up. But most importantly, the fact is that time is a funny thing. If you focus while throwing down a Time Piece, you <em>might </em>wind up <em>roughly </em>in the time period you want to go. If you drop one on <em>accident</em>, on the other hand, there’s no saying where you’ll go back. Could be two minutes, could be two days, could be two centuries.</p><p>               So, as you watch the Time Piece hit the ground, you guess you’re about to find out just how lucky you are.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               The most frustrating thing about dropping a Time Piece is that, for the most part, you don’t even notice at first. Inhale, it slips out of your hand. Exhale, now you’re standing in an empty room two hours ago. Very disorienting, and sometimes very scary.</p><p>               At least, that’s what you heard from the grown-ups before shipping out. <em>You </em>are exceptionally careful and have never dropped a Time Piece before now. But in your case, there’s no wondering about what happened, because the place you’re now standing in is definitely NOT Subcon Forest.</p><p>               The sun is shining, the trees are full of bright green leaves and delicious-looking fruits, and you see some absolutely adorable villagers in cute little masks running and laughing. So clearly, something has gone terribly, <em>terribly </em>wrong.</p><p>               You’re not going to freak out. You’re not going to cry. You might be a kid, but you’re also a seasoned traveler. And also a movie star, and legally a bird. So you’re ready for something like this. Besides, you still have that other Time Piece in your backpack. All you have to do now is get yourself oriented and focused.</p><p>               “She just appeared, didn’t she?”</p><p>               “Out of <em>nowhere</em>, yeah.”</p><p>               “You think we should talk to her?”</p><p>               You look over to see two of the villagers whispering to each other behind a tree, clearly trying to be very stealthy. Once they’re spotted, though, they seem startled.</p><p>               “Or…or maybe we should go find the Prince.”</p><p>               “Yeah, the Prince. That’s a much better idea.”</p><p>               One of the two is wearing a cute fox mask—it looks a little like your Dweller mask, without the whole “seeing horrors unimaginable” aspect yours has—and they wave their little arms at you. “Stay right where you are, kid! We’re gonna go get you some help!”</p><p>               And off they run.</p><p>               On one hand, you really ought to hop back to where you were. It’s possible, you know, though it’s not something you should do outside of dire circumstances. But winding up somewhere completely different than your original location definitely seems like dire circumstances.</p><p>               On the other hand, the shift is starting to get to you. Big ones are much harder on the body than little ones, and you’re feeling more than a little woozy. Maybe you should wait for a minute before doing another big jump.</p><p>               Also, maybe you should lay down immediately.</p><p>               Your head spins, and you feel yourself falling down, though you can’t exactly figure out which way you’re falling. Just before you hit the ground, though, something catches your arm and yanks you back up.</p><p>               “Woah, kiddo, let’s try and stay upright, okay?”</p><p>               Your arm hurts a little from the jolt, but it helps snap you out of dizziness. You look up at your rescuer—which, really, is a loose term, considering he could have dislocated your shoulder doing that—and he does the same to you. Between the crown, the fancy clothes, and the perfectly styled hair, he certainly <em>looks </em>princely, so you figure this must be who the two villagers were talking about. There’s something familiar about him, but in your current state, you’re definitely not able to figure out what it is.</p><p>               “Well, you’re definitely not a local,” he finally says. “Where’d you even come from, kid?”</p><p>               You start to talk, but the wooziness is back in full force, so you instead focus on staying upright. The Prince sets a hand on your shoulder, keeping you steady.</p><p>               “You know what, hold onto that thought. Let’s get you somewhere you can sit first.” He starts pushing you forward, careful to make sure you stay centered. “Subcon’s nice, but I think you need an actual chair or something.”</p><p>               <em>Subcon</em>? THIS is Subcon? But it’s so…not creepy? Weirdly enough, you’re not as surprised as you should be. As far as you know, you can only <em>time </em>travel with Time Pieces. But if this is Subcon Forest, then how far back did you end up going?</p><p>               Oof. That thought does NOT help your current state.</p><p>               As the two of you walk, you start picking up some landmarks. The path is familiar, even if the greenery and happy villagers are not. Now if you could just figure out this Prince guy…</p><p>               All thoughts, muddy as they are, come to a screeching halt as you come up to a bright, beautiful mansion. You know this place. You had a <em>contractual obligation </em>here that almost got you killed, and some nice paint can’t make you forget that. You stop dead in your tracks, not even moving as the Prince stumbles and nearly topples you both over.</p><p>               “Jeez, kid! Can you give me some warning first?” The Prince looks down at you as he adjusts his crown, dark eyes narrowing curiously at you. “What, you don’t want to go in?”</p><p>               You shake your head firmly.</p><p>               “Why? It’s just my house. I go in it all the time and I’m just fine.” His head falls to the side as he looks over the front door, then he crouches down to your height as he continues looking at it. “Is it those angel statues?”</p><p>               More like the dark entity you’re sure is still hiding inside, but the headless murder angels weren’t great either, and you don’t trust them with or without heads.</p><p>               You give the Prince a nod, and he laughs.</p><p>               “Don’t worry, they can’t hurt you. Well, unless they go on a murderous rampage again…” He glances down and clearly notices the horrified look on your face. “I’m <em>joking.</em> Which…admittedly, might not have been the best idea considering you look ready to keel over.” He sighs, then stands up straight and sets his hands on your shoulders. “Relax, kid. They’re just statues. And if they <em>do</em> get murderous, I’ll tell them it breaks the terms of their contract, deal?”</p><p>               <em>Oh. </em>Oh. That makes something click, and you’re caught off-guard enough for the Prince to be able to push you (carefully) into the manor.</p><p>               “See? Not a scratch on us. Probably because unemployment’s really rough on statues these days.”</p><p>               No. No, no, that can’t be right. You’re making silly assumptions because you’re still feeling the effects of the time jump. But the Prince <em>is </em>right; you two are in the manor safe and sound, and aside from a few villagers running about with linens and food, it seems like you’re the only two there. And…it’s tremendously cozy. It’s just warm enough, and the air carries the smell of fresh-baked cookies. Even <em>with </em>the memories of being chased around by that shadow-lady, you can’t force yourself to be on guard here. You let the Prince guide you up the stairs, and he opens the door to a <em>very </em>flouncy room. Lots of lace and frothy bed hangings. It’s very pretty, and not your style at all.</p><p>               “Here, kid, let’s get you settled in here for now.” The Prince rests a hand on his hip, looking around the room. “Normally this is where my fiancée stays, but she’s out on royal business right now, sp the room’s all yours. I’m sure she won’t mind.” He waves toward the bed. “Lay down or take a nap, whatever you need. I’ll have one of the Dwellers bring up some food for you later, then maybe we can figure out where you came from. Sound good, kiddo?”</p><p>               It sounds <em>great.</em> In seconds your hat is off and you’ve thrown yourself down onto the bed. Your head’s still spinning a bit, but with the soft pillow and cozy blanket you wrap around yourself, you’re able to drop off into unconsciousness almost immediately.</p><p>~</p><p>               You’re not really sure how long you’re asleep, but it’s definitely not long enough. But there’s no way you could have stayed asleep with all the commotion on the other side of the door.</p><p>               “What do we do? She’s coming!”</p><p>               “Just change the sheets!”</p><p>               “But that little girl’s still inside, and the Prince said we CAN’T wake her up!”</p><p>               You rub your eyes and sit up. Well, you feel normal again, which is good. And considering how worked up the Dwellers on the other side of the door are getting, you should probably get on out. Just as well, you don’t want to wait too long before getting back to your proper time.</p><p>               You grab your hat and hop off the bed, and you smile at the two Dwellers as you open the door. They rush inside, pushing you out and slamming the door. <em>Well. </em>Manners, apparently, have never been a big thing in Subcon Forest.</p><p>               You fix your hat and make your way to the stairs. It seems right to thank the Prince for letting you recover, so you set out to find him before heading back. (Heading forward? Thinking too much about that will get you woozy again, so you don’t.) You’re startled, though, by a piercing shriek that goes through the entire manor.</p><p>               “My <em>Prince!</em>”</p><p>               You pick up the pace, running down the stairs and heading toward the source of the squeal. You find it at the door, where a very pretty blonde woman with a dainty crown throws herself at an unsuspecting Prince. She peppers kisses all over his face. Ordinarily, you’d be grossed out, but there’s something <em>familiar </em>about this.</p><p>               “Darling!” The Prince’s brain has apparently caught up to what’s happening, and he wraps his arms around the woman’s waist. “I thought you weren’t coming back until tomorrow.”</p><p>               “Oh, but I couldn’t <em>bear </em>being apart from you for a moment longer, my princey-wincey!” she cooed. “Besides, it’s just boring <em>queen </em>stuff. Not like I’m actually missing anything important, especially because all I could think about was <em>you</em>, my love! Did you miss me while I was gone?”</p><p>               “Of course I did. I miss you every moment you’re not here, my princess.” This time, the Prince dipped his head to press a tender kiss to her temple. “Sometimes I can’t believe how lucky I am to have such a devoted soon-to-be wife.”</p><p>               Clearly the Prince is busy. You figure it’s better just to leave a note thanking him for his help. You dig in your backpack, looking for a piece of paper. Time Piece, water bottle…oh, you forgot you packed the storybook.</p><p>               <em>The storybook!</em></p><p>               Your backpack falls out of your hands, and your head shoots up to look at the pair in front of you. Blonde hair, dainty crown, green dress…that’s definitely Queen Vanessa from the story. And the Prince…he looks just like the one from the book.</p><p>               <em>Oh.</em> Oh <em>no.</em></p><p>               It still seems impossible, but if the story’s true, then your hunch earlier was right. You’ve gone back a <em>very </em>long time.</p><p>               And it looks like you’ve found <em>Snatcher.</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               The backpack falls from your hands with a loud thud, and the lovey-dovey exchanges come to a screeching halt. Queen Vanessa’s head snaps over to look at you, ice-blue eyes narrowing suspiciously before she puts on a stiff smile.</p><p>               “Darling, who’s this?” she asks through her teeth.</p><p>               The Prince—should you start thinking of him as Snatcher? But that’s so <em>weird</em>—looks over at you. “Hey, kiddo, welcome back to the world of the living,” he says with a smile, though it fades as he pulls away from Vanessa to crouch down in front of you. “Well, maybe I spoke too soon. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”</p><p>               You laugh. You know you shouldn’t, but like, <em>come on.</em></p><p>               Despite the fact that you did <em>not </em>actually find his comment that funny, he relaxes. “Well, that’s more than you’ve said all day.”</p><p>               “Darling, <em>who is that?</em>” Vanessa’s voice is much more clipped, and her smile seems frozen in place. You don’t like that.</p><p>               The Prince, however, is unphased and pats your hat. “An urchin I picked up off the street, obviously. Getting ready for a life of indentured servitude.” He smiles down at you. “Do I have to tell you I’m joking now, or are you catching on?”</p><p>               You manage a weak laugh. These jokes of his weren’t really that funny to begin with, but now they make you a little sick. He pats your hat again as he looks back to Vanessa.</p><p>               “She’s just a little visitor. Got lost in the woods, so we’re getting her rested up before finding out where home is.”</p><p>               Vanessa’s stuck smile finally disappears, now replaced with an exaggerated pout. “But…but I came home early so we could spend a <em>whole </em>extra day together.”</p><p>               “And we will, my love, we will.”</p><p>               “But…I don’t want <em>anyone </em>bothering you today! I mean, apart from me, of course.” The pout becomes even more exaggerated. “After all, we’re getting <em>married</em> soon. We should be spending every moment possible together to get ready.”</p><p>               The Prince shakes his head with a fond smile, then walks back to Vanessa and presses a kiss to her forehead. “We have plenty of time, my princess, don’t you worry.” He takes a step back, keeping his hands on her arms. “Look, I’ve already had the Dwellers cooking up some food, and I’m sure you’re exhausted after fast-tracking it home. Why don’t <em>you</em>…” He taps her nose. “…go freshen up, and I’ll take care of some business I got behind on thanks to our visitor, and then we’ll all meet up in a bit for brunch. Deal?”</p><p>               Vanessa giggles. “Deal,” she says, leaning forward to kiss him again before jumping up to give him a tight hug. Over his shoulder, her bright smile drops as she looks down at you, something in her eyes sending a chill down your spine.</p><p>A moment later, she bounced back out of his arms. “I’ll miss you every moment we’re apart, my prince,” she coos.</p><p>               “And so will I, my princess.” He kisses her again, then pulls away to walk down the hallway.</p><p>Vanessa watches him go, then sighs before stomping her way up the stairs. From your spot, you hear the door open. “Why are you in here?” you hear her ask the Dwellers. “My bedroom should have been <em>UNTOUCHED</em>.”</p><p>               You decide now is a good time to see what the Prince is up to.</p><p>~</p><p>               You find him in an office, tucked away in the back corner of the mansion. You don’t think you ever got this far, but then again, you might not have been able to recognize it if you had. The Prince is crouched over his desk, quill scratching quickly over paper.</p><p>               You’re willing to bet pons to donuts that he’s writing out contracts of some sort, but probably ones of a less soul-stealy nature. And, since he’ll one day be legally obligated to be your BFF, you figure you might as well take a look.</p><p>               “Oh, hey, kid. You looking to be put to work?”</p><p>               You hesitate for a moment, looking at his desk. Pages upon pages of letters are scattered all over it.</p><p>               “I won’t turn down the help, pull up a chair and grab a quill.” He pushes his pot of ink so it sits between the two of you, then puts his hand over it. “Wait. You can write, can’t you?”</p><p>               You send him a flat look and nod.</p><p>               “Just checking! Someone is <em>definitely </em>feeling better, isn’t she?” He pulls his hand back, picking up his quill again. “Anyway, I’m just writing letters to the Dwellers, so don’t worry about being too fancy. It sounds sappy, but…we’re pretty isolated out here, so I like sending them some mail every now and again. They’re always over the moon to get some from the ‘outside world,’ even if it’s just a smiley face.”</p><p>               You smile a bit as you start to write. This is much nicer than outright stealing mail and redelivering it. Huh, Snatcher really wasn’t that bad of a guy before everything happened, was he?</p><p>               A thought crosses your mind, a kind of terrible one. Generally speaking, trying to change the past is a BIG no-no, even bigger than dropping a Time Piece. But…if…and this was a BIG if…but if you could stop the break up from happening, then maybe Vanessa and the Prince could stay normal, and Subcon Forest could stay happy. In that case, it’d be better for everyone involved, wouldn’t it?</p><p>               The Prince interrupts your thoughts by cracking his knuckles. “Jeez, writing this much makes my hands cramp up. Back in school I would have actual <em>dreams </em>about being able to write up contracts with just my mind. But I suppose that’s the life of a prince, isn’t it?” He takes up his quill again, then pauses. “Well, <em>technically, </em>that’s the life of the Grand Duke of the Subcon Forest—actually, <em>technically</em> Grand Duke and District Attorney of the Subcon Forest. But that’s a mouthful, isn’t it?”</p><p>               Attorney? <em>You knew it.</em></p><p>               The Prince catches your smug look and grins. “Bet you haven’t heard of a noble lawyer, have you, kid? Well, I haven’t, either. But lawyers who are minor royalty are also pretty rare.” He laughs at his own joke, and you politely laugh with him. “Anyway, I thought it’d be a good thing to have in my pocket, you know? But—and contain your surprise at this, kid—there’s not much in terms of legal settlements out here in Subcon. But who knows, maybe it’ll come in handy when I’m king. There’s all sorts of treaties and stuff to take care of, and I won’t have to worry about Subcon when it’s not my domain anymore.” A strange expression crosses his face at that, and he abruptly sets the quill down. “Anyway, I think that’s enough letters for this round. I’ve got ribbons in the drawer there, we’ll just roll these up, tie ‘em off, and then pop them into some mailboxes.”</p><p>               You nod, then open up the drawer. You don’t find ribbons, but you <em>do </em>find a very official-looking piece of paper with the word “Contract” embellished at the top.</p><p>               Really, you’re surprised it took you this long.</p><p>               You pull it out, looking it over. It’s <em>much </em>longer than the ones Snatcher gave you, with a lot of big words and sentences that seem to go on forever. But you do pick out “Queen Vanessa” and “marriage,” so it’s probably…</p><p>               “<em>Heyyy</em>, hey, hey, that is definitely <em>not </em>ribbons.” The contract is plucked out of your hand, and the Prince puts it back in the drawer in a hurry before slamming it shut. “Anyway, you don’t want to read that. It’s all boring marriage stuff. Did you know there’s a whole bunch of legal processing when you get married? No, wait, of course you wouldn’t, you’re, like, six. <em>Annnnyway</em>…”</p><p>               “My <em>Priiiiince!</em>”</p><p>               This time, the Prince looks downright relieved at the squeal, and this time he’s prepared for Vanessa to launch herself at him, deftly catching her and setting her in his lap.</p><p>               “I was wondering when you’d be coming in,” he says, leaning forward to rub his nose against hers.</p><p>               “Oh, I’m sorry to keep you waiting, darling,” she replies, giving him another pout. “It was those Dwellers. <em>Someone </em>apparently messed up my bed while I was gone.”</p><p>               For a moment, you and the Prince lock eyes over her shoulder, both of you fighting grimaces. The Prince breaks away first, putting on a mock-serious face as he cups her chin.</p><p>               “Well! I’ll be sure to get to the bottom of it, my love. We can’t have your bedroom getting messed up.”</p><p>               Vanessa giggles before snuggling up to him. “It’ll be <em>so </em>much easier when we’re married. I’m not letting you out of my sight, <em>ever, </em>and so I won’t even <em>need </em>a visiting room out here in Subcon! Just think, no more incompetent Dwellers demanding your attention and messing up our beds.” She lifts her head. “Speaking of, have they finished brunch yet? I’m <em>starving</em>.”</p><p>               The same strange expression crosses his face, but only for a moment before his smile’s back on. “I’m sure they are by now. Why don’t we get going?” He helps Vanessa to her feet, then, keeping a hold of her hand, presses kisses up the length of her arm as he stands up himself.</p><p>               Jeez. You knew the two of them were in love, but this is just <em>gross</em>. But you’ve already decided you’re going to try and help, and “gross” is much more preferable to “murderous.” Even so, you’d <em>almost</em> prefer having them be their current selves if it means no more baby talk and gratuitous smooching.</p><p>               “Hey, kid, come on. Bet you’re starving after the morning you’ve had,” the Prince says. He doesn’t seem to notice when Vanessa grips his arm tighter, nor the icy look she sends your way before giving a sharp smile.</p><p>               “Of course. Wouldn’t want our <em>guest </em>to go hungry.” The smile drops, and she tugs the Prince out the door, much more roughly than she needs to.</p><p>               You get the feeling she doesn’t like you much. But much more important is the feeling that your stomach is <em>empty</em>, so you shake it off and follow them.</p><p>~</p><p>               You haven’t had brunch before, but you’ve decided it’s now your favorite meal of the day. At least, it is in Subcon Forest.</p><p>               There’s eggs and sausage and biscuits and fruit and, most importantly, <em>cookies! </em>For <em>BREAKFAST!</em> Time travel is notorious for making you hungry, and you’re pretty sure you’ve inhaled six of these breakfast cookies before you’ve even sat down properly.</p><p>               You realize halfway through your second sausage that you’re probably not behaving the way you should when having  brunch with royalty, but the Prince doesn’t seem to mind all that much.</p><p>               “Careful, Vanessa,” he says as you reach for yet another cookie. “Looks like we might have someone who loves cookies more than you.”</p><p>               “Not possible.” Vanessa’s voice is flat, and she hasn’t so much as touched her fork yet. Instead, she’s just staring at you. Her face is composed, but you still get the impression she’s imagining some not very nice things.</p><p>               The Prince doesn’t seem to notice, instead stirring his coffee with another laugh. “You really ought to come back when Vanessa’s the one in the kitchen. Her cookies? <em>Ugh</em>, to <em>die </em>for.”</p><p>               Suddenly, you don’t want to eat anymore cookies. Possibly ever again.</p><p>               “Oh, if you’re looking for jam, try this one.” The Prince nudges a small jar toward you. “Here, I lo—” He catches himself. “It’s my favorite.”</p><p>               You’re not sure what’s weirder: the way he corrected himself, or the fact that you’re getting jam recommendations from Snatcher. Either way, you decide you might as well try it. As you’re spooning it onto some toast, another heavenly smell comes from the kitchen. This one seems to pull Vanessa out of her one-sided staring contest with you, but she doesn’t seem any happier. In fact, she looks outright <em>angry.</em></p><p>               “What is that?” she snaps at the Dweller who enters the room with a covered dish.</p><p>               The Dweller pauses, their masked face going between Vanessa and the Prince. “It’s, uh…actually, I think it needs to go back to the kitchen.”</p><p>               “<em>Show me what you’ve brought</em>,” Vanessa says through her teeth.</p><p>               “Vanessa, love…” The Prince tries, but she holds up a finger to shush him. The Dweller is visibly shaking as they lift up the cover on the tray.</p><p>               “<em>Bacon?!</em>”</p><p>               You swear you see the lights flicker, and you sink down in your seat as she continues to shout at the Dweller.</p><p>               “You <em>know </em>bacon is <em>not allowed </em>at the table!”</p><p>               “Vanessa, darling, it was a <em>mistake</em>.” The Prince is immediately on his feet, turning Vanessa around to face him. The Dweller took the chance to bolt back into the kitchen. “I mean, you dropped by much earlier than planned and…”</p><p>               “I don’t <em>care! </em>I won’t have you loving something more than <em>me </em>first thing in the morning!” She gasps suddenly, then narrows her eyes up at him. “Have you…have you been eating bacon when I’m <em>not </em>here?”</p><p>               “No, no! Of course not, dearest. And anyway, you know I could never love anything more than you, especially not some <em>cured pork.</em>”</p><p>               “I don’t want you to love anything <em>but </em>me!” she snaps back at him, pushing him back before crossing her arms in a huff. “Not bacon, not this stupid forest, <em>nothing</em>.”</p><p>               Immediately, the Prince is behind her, hugging her tightly despite her stiff pose. “Don’t be ridiculous, love. You know I love you more than anything, Vanessa.”</p><p>               For a moment, she stays stiff, but then she leans against him with a sigh. “I just…after my last relationship…”</p><p>               “I know.”</p><p>               “And I get so <em>worried</em>…”</p><p>               “I know, I know. But I’m not like him.”</p><p>               Vanessa lets out a shaky sigh, then turns and buries her face in his chest. The Prince strokes her hair silently for several minutes, then lifts her head and rubs her cheek with his thumb, smiling gently.</p><p>               “Better?”</p><p>               Vanessa nods.</p><p>               “I think, love, that you’re exhausted.” He leans down to kiss her cheek. “Look, I’ve still got some Dweller business to attend to. Why don’t you take a nap, and then by the time you wake up, I’ll be right back.”</p><p>               She looks up at him with big, blue eyes. “Promise?”</p><p>               “Promise.”</p><p>               Vanessa nods, then pulls the Prince down to give him a very long kiss right on the lips. Finally, she lets him go. The Prince blinks a few times, looking stunned, then shakes his head.</p><p>               “C-C’mon, kid. Can’t keep the Dwellers waiting for their mail,” he says, smiling woozily.</p><p>               You quickly hop down from your chair, all but running to the Prince’s side after witnessing all that. Despite everything telling you not to, you look back at Vanessa. She’s not smiling as you two go, and as a shadow crosses her face, you swear you can see a trace of red in her ice-blue eyes. You pick up the pace and turn back around, sticking as close to the Prince as possible as you both exit the house.</p><p>               You’ll be the first to admit that you don’t know the first thing about relationships. After all, you’re just a kid. But what you’re seeing doesn’t seem normal, and maybe your goal here shouldn’t be trying to keep the two of them together.</p><p>               Maybe it’s keeping them far, far apart.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               The walk to the village is a decent one, but much easier than the last time you went to the manor. After all, there’s no ice blocks, no spirit boxes, no broken bridge to vault over; you and the Prince just walk down a pretty path, carefully tying off the Dwellers’ letters as you go. (You do take a moment to look for Snatcher’s future house, but all you see is a giant tree. You wonder how he manages to hollow it if he’s a ghost, then wonder if it’ll ever actually need to <em>be </em>hollowed if you manage to save him. Not…that you’re 100% sure you will, but it pays to be positive.)</p><p>               “Penny for your thoughts, kiddo?” the Prince asks abruptly, managing to tie off his last letter and tuck it under his arm. “Do you even have pennies where you’re from?”</p><p>               You stare at him. You’ve never heard of a “penny” in your entire life.</p><p>               “I didn’t think so. Besides, you’ve got an awfully expressive face anyway, so I bet I can guess.” He holds out his hand, offering to take the letter you’ve been struggling with for the past few minutes. “You’re wondering why I’m with Vanessa when she gets…like that.”</p><p>               You stay quiet, waiting for him to continue. You’re sure he will; he’s not <em>Snatcher, </em>but he’s still <em>Snatcher</em> (if that makes sense? You’re not sure it does, and you’re glad you don’t have to explain it.) And, of course, he does.</p><p>               “Well, clearly I’m staying for the inevitable glut of power I’ll have when I’m crowned king.” You roll your eyes, and he smiles. “Good, you’re catching on. But yeah, that’s a joke. I don’t even want to be king over the whole land or anything; I’m more than happy with my forest. Here, let’s switch. You hold the finished letters, I tie the rest.” You swap loads; you can barely see over all the letters stacked in your arms.</p><p>As you struggle to keep a hold of the letters, you freeze as you feel your hat plucked from your head. The last time this happened in Subcon, you had exploding potions and minions chucked at you. Just as your heart starts to race, though, you feel something else plopped down on your head—much smaller and a little heavier. Carefully, you reach up one hand to touch it—metal. Did the Prince put <em>his crown </em>on you? You look up, and judging by the way he’s adjusting your hat on his head, you think he did.</p><p>               “What? I’m a sucker for a good hat. And I thought every little girl dreams of being a princess, which you are so long as you wear that.”</p><p>               You roll your eyes again.</p><p>               “Not into princesses, huh? Well, too bad. As long as you’re on my turf, what I say goes. And <em>I</em> say I get to wear your hat until we finish delivering the mail.”</p><p>               You smirk and tap the crown on your head. The Prince stops, then sighs.</p><p>               “I <em>did </em>say you were a princess with that on, didn’t I? And I could concede that and give you your hat back. <em>Or </em>I could remind you that you have stubby little arms that are currently full of an entire village’s worth of letters, and you wouldn’t be able to get it back if you tried.”</p><p>               Unfortunately, he has a point. You can’t reach your umbrella with all these letters in your arms, and dropping them might get them squished. And that’d just be <em>mean.</em> You sigh, adjusting the crown. Yeah, he’s <em>definitely</em> still Snatcher without being Snatcher.</p><p>               Except this one, weirdly, feels like an actual friend, not just a contractually obliged one.</p><p>               “<em>Annn</em>yway,” he says, tying off the last letter and tossing it at the first house you pass, “you want to know about me and Vanessa, and there’s no more hats to steal, so I guess I gotta quit stalling. Just chuck the letters at the houses you see, by the way, they’ll get them.”</p><p>You nod and start tossing the letters; you’ve done this before, so your aim is <em>amazing</em>.</p><p>“The truth is…I wasn’t her first pick. I wasn’t even <em>a </em>pick, as far as I know. She had some…childhood sweetheart or something. They were engaged, and then he just up and disappeared. Left her completely devastated. But the future queen has to get married, right? So her mom arranges a back-up with the next highest ranking unmarried man in the land, and that’s me.” He chuckles as he tosses a letter at a nearby Dweller, waving as they thank him profusely. “Let me tell ya, kiddo, nothing’s weirder than coming home from school for the summer and finding out you have a fiancée. Anyway, I expected for us to be one of those usual arranged marriage situations—you don’t actually care that much about each other, but you get along well enough to run a country. But then we met and…” He looks up at the sky, letting out a long breath. “I can’t explain it. Meeting her eyes was like…like someone had just plugged a socket into me. The whole <em>world </em>lit up. And then we got to talking and…look, you just…you caught her at a really bad time. Because she is <em>so </em>loving and headstrong and <em>passionate</em>. And…part of the problem is that her passion gets a little…<em>intense.</em>”</p><p>               You frown. Again, you’re no relationship expert, but freaking out over having someone love bacon seems a little more than “intense.” The Prince quickly shakes his head.</p><p>               “Look, when things are good between us, they are <em>so, so </em>good. She’s absolutely who I want to spend the rest of my life with. I just…wish she was a little less jealous.” He tosses another letter to a Dweller, smiling as they hop up and down in excitement. “And thinking about what’ll happen to the forest when it’s in her control…” He shakes his head. “Jeez, what am I doing? You don’t want to hear about all this relationship junk, you’re just a kid.”</p><p>               You’re about to tell him that actually you are <em>very </em>interested in this <em>particular </em>relationship junk, because it might give you an idea of how to keep things from going sour. But instead, the Prince crouches down beside you and points up to a tree with a little door at the very top.</p><p>               “Instead, let’s talk about that last letter you got. I bet you your hat that you can’t get it all the way up there.”</p><p>               You should turn the conversation back around. But…that’d mean turning down a challenge, and you’re <em>very </em>competitive. You’ll bring it up <em>after </em>you get your hat back.</p><p>               You scramble up the tree easy as anything—in fact, it’s a little shorter than it is in the present, so you don’t even need a grappling hook. You get right on up to the door and gently slip the letter through the mail slot. You turn around to give the Prince the smuggest face you can.</p><p>               You really, <em>really </em>need to start paying more attention in Subcon. Because that turn shifts your footing just a tad, and the branch your standing on isn’t quite as thick as you think it is. And down you go.</p><p>               <em>“Kid!”</em></p><p>               Lucky for you, you still have your backpack, and falling from high places is something you’re <em>very </em>used to now. Whipping out your umbrella and opening it is second nature by this point, and the last fourth of your fall is spent floating down gently before lightly landing on your feet in front of the Prince, who looks like <em>he’s </em>the one who had a thirty-foot fall. He lets out a nervous laugh and shakes his head.</p><p>               “Real…<em>real</em> efficient way of getting down, kid. Also real efficient way of giving the people around you heart attacks.”</p><p>               As he regains his composure, you hold out your hand in a silent demand for your hat.</p><p>               “What? <em>Oh</em>, the bet.” He shakes his head, then takes off the hat. He pauses, looking it over before smirking. “You know, private bets aren’t legally binding. So technically, I don’t <em>have</em> to give you anything.” As you open your mouth to argue, he chuckles and holds out your hat. “Lucky for you, I’m a man of my word. And besides, if you can look death right in the eyes like that, you deserve it.”</p><p>               You take the hat with a relieved sigh, popping it back on your head as the Prince picks his crown up from the ground. He dusts it off, then nods back up toward the path.</p><p>               “Well, our work’s done here, so it’s time to head back, I’d say.” He grins, tapping your hat before leading the way back to the path. “We make a pretty good team, don’t we, kiddo?”</p><p>               You smile as you follow him. Before your time jump, you would have <em>never </em>said that. Ever! But now…well, now, you kinda <em>do </em>make a good team, huh?</p><p>               All the more reason to keep him from becoming Snatcher in the future.</p><p>~</p><p>               The walk back to the Manor is a leisurely one, and the Prince chatters the whole way about where you could spend the night now that Vanessa’s back in her room.</p><p>               “We have a parlor with a pool table…maybe we could pop a mattress on it? You’re tiny enough that it should be pretty comfortable. Or maybe a little cot in the piano room? Oh, don’t worry, no one in the house plays, so it’s not like you’ll get woken up by it or anything. Ugh, I <em>wanted </em>to renovate the dungeon into a guest room—oh, yeah, we have a dungeon. Of course I don’t use it, that’s <em>barbaric</em>.—but the budget this year just was <em>not </em>having it. I guess if you don’t mind sleeping in a cell it’d be doable…”</p><p>               You’re not really listening. Instead, you’re considering your options. You still have that Time Piece in your bag, so you really can go forward at any time. And you have to, eventually—<em>and </em>you have to clean up the Time Rifts, and putting it off will just mean you have to do it later. But…at your core, you’re a fixer. You fixed up Rumbi. You fixed up your ship. Some birds even yelled at you about fixing the Bird Awards! So something in you just won’t let you leave until you fix whatever goes wrong here.</p><p>               But who knows how long it could be before then? Staying an extra couple days is doable, but what if they don’t break up for <em>years</em>? No one told you what could happen if someone <em>chooses </em>to stay in the past.</p><p>               You look up at the Prince, still chattering. Still alive and happy and genuinely <em>nice</em>, even with his weird, Snatcher-y sense of humor.</p><p>               Could you really live with yourself if you <em>let </em>him become what he does in the future? He’ll lose everything, and now you’ll lose a friend.</p><p>               You can’t do that. You have to stay.</p><p>               “Oh! The attic! I’m sure we have some old bed things up there, and it’s actually pretty cozy once you dust a little. When we get inside, I’ll…” The Prince suddenly trails off and slows his pace. You look up at him curiously, then up ahead.</p><p>               The manor’s in view, and standing on the porch is Queen Vanessa. Her arms are crossed, her entire body is rigid, and the air seems to have a chill in it as she stares hard at the two of you, obviously furious. The Prince holds out his hand, stopping you as he watches her. His face is composed, but his dark eyes are darting around at nothing in particular; it looks like he’s <em>strategizing</em>.</p><p>               The air is horribly tense. You think both of them are waiting for the other to move first, so for several minutes, they simply stand and stare at each other across the courtyard. Finally, the Prince inhales deeply, then lets out a long, slow breath. He takes a smooth step in front of you, and you can hear the put-on smile in his voice as he says, “Darling!”</p><p>               “<em>You were supposed to be here when I woke up</em>.”</p><p>               You shiver. This isn’t like her explosion at brunch. Her voice is quiet, full of rage but <em>so </em>quiet. It nearly sounds the way she did as she chased you through the manor.</p><p>               “I’m sorry, my love, I honestly thought you’d sleep longer. We had a little bit of a snafu ourselves, but we…”</p><p>               “<em>You BROKE your PROMISE.</em>”</p><p>               The Prince’s show of cheeriness drops, and he starts to step back before glancing back to see you. He swallows, then lifts his head.</p><p>               “I know. And I am <em>so</em> sorry, Vanessa. I’ll do what I can to make it up to you.”</p><p>               You peek around the Prince’s legs to look at Vanessa. For one moment, her eyes lock onto you. They’re still blue, but there’s so much rage and <em>hatred </em>in them that you’re just as frightened as you were when you met the blood red ones in the manor. It takes every bit of bravery you have not to immediately hide behind him again, but you don’t want her to think you’re afraid of her. Even if you really, <em>really</em> are.</p><p>               Finally, her gaze shifts back to the Prince’s. Then, through her teeth, she hisses, “Talk to me in the parlor. <em>Alone.</em>”</p><p>               He nods. “Of course, my princess.” He stays put as she turns and sweeps back inside, then lets out a sigh as he hits his forehead with the heel of his hand.</p><p>               “<em>Stupid.</em> I should know she never sleeps well after a trip,” he whispers to himself, then sighs before crouching down beside you. “Listen, kid, when we get inside, why don’t you go look for a room you like? The parlor…isn’t the best anyway.” He stands up and taps on your hat. “And put this in a safe place. Never know when someone’s gonna snatch it off ya.”</p><p>               The two of you walk into the manor. You can’t help but notice the Prince looks a little sick, but he quickly shakes it off and puts on a composed face. You wonder if that’s a royal thing or a grown-up thing, and you kind of hope it’s the first one, because you can’t ever imagine pretending like nothing’s wrong when <em>clearly there’s a lot wrong</em>. He glances down, noticing you’re still there.</p><p>               “Go on, kid, shoo. I’ll catch up with you in a bit.”</p><p>               You nod, starting to slowly walk toward the stairs. When you reach the bottom one, he finally goes into the parlor and shuts the door. You, of course, run back to the door as quickly as possible. The keyhole’s too small to see out of, but if you press your ear to it, you can hear everything crystal clear.</p><p>               “You <em>lied </em>to me.”</p><p>               “I didn’t lie, my love, it was a <em>mistake.</em>”</p><p>               “And how many more mistakes am I going to have to endure, hm? Am I going to have to listen to excuses like this when we’re married? Am I going to…going to have to constantly worry about <em>where you are</em>?”</p><p>               “Vanessa, I told you where I was. If you were really worried, you could have come out to the village with the two of us.”</p><p>               Vanessa muttered something you couldn’t quite make out, but given the noise the Prince makes, it can’t be all that good.</p><p>               “You can<em>not</em> be serious.”</p><p>               “I am.”</p><p>               “For God’s sake, Vanessa, she’s a <em>child.</em>”</p><p>               “<em>She</em> has ruined this entire surprise I had for you! <em>WE </em>were supposed to spend the day together! <em>WE </em>are the ones getting married, but you’ve spent every waking moment with HER instead of ME!”</p><p>               “She’s lost!” the Prince snaps. “You should have seen her when she showed up, the poor thing could barely walk. She still hasn’t said a word this whole time she’s been here.” He huffs. “I’m just trying to get her back home.”</p><p>               “Oh, so playing mailman with her today was getting her home? Setting up brunch for her was getting her home?”</p><p>               “My god, am I not allowed to distract a little girl from getting scared?”</p><p>               “<em>Not like this!</em>” Vanessa shrieks. She takes a few deep breaths, then adds in a very low voice, “I want her <em>gone. </em>Immediately.”</p><p>               “Don’t be ridiculous, Vanessa.”</p><p>               “I am <em>very </em>serious. I want her out of here as quickly as possible, and I don’t want you seeing her ever again.”</p><p>               You feel your heart start to race. This is bad. This is really, horribly bad. If the Prince kicks you out, then it’s all over—he’s going to end up as Snatcher. Maybe he’ll say no. Maybe he’ll break up with her! <em>Anything</em> to buy you a little more time to fix things.</p><p>               You hear him let out an irritated sigh. “No. This is stupid. I love you, Vanessa, and I’m sorry that your surprise hasn’t worked out the way you planned. I’m sorry I broke my promise, and I will do <em>anything </em>to make it up to you. But getting this worked up over a lost little girl…it’s a new low for you.”</p><p>               You let out a sigh of relief. He did it, he stood up to her. You have some extra time.</p><p>               But then you hear a giggle. A not very nice sounding one.</p><p>               “Ohhh, my prince, my prince. You remember what happened with my last fiancé?”</p><p>               “I’m not like him. I’ll stay.”</p><p>               “He said the same thing. And then he disappeared.”</p><p>               “I’m not like him, Vanessa.”</p><p>               “You’ve heard the rumors, haven’t you? About <em>how </em>he might have disappeared. About how it might not have been <em>his </em>choice to be hardly more than a memory now?”</p><p>               This time, the Prince’s voice falters as he repeats, “I-I’ll stay.”</p><p>               “Oh, yes you will. I <em>know </em>you will, my princey-wincy.” Her voice lowers to a whisper, so quiet you have to mash your entire face against the door to hear. “But don’t test me like this. Rumors are just rumors, but I’d hate for you to find out if any of it was true.”</p><p>               There’s a very, very long silence that follows. You hear a small “smack,” like a kiss on the cheek, and Vanessa sweetly asks, “Well?”</p><p>                Another silence. Then, the Prince takes a long, shaking breath. “I’ll get her out of here. Right away.”</p><p>               “<em>There </em>we go. That’s all I ask for, my love. And now we’ll have the <em>whole night</em> to ourselves, just the two of us!”</p><p>               You lean against the door, feeling your heart sink in your chest. This is so much worse than you thought. Is fixing it even possible at this point?</p><p>               No. You can still do this. <em>Anything </em>is fixable.</p><p>               It has to be.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Do I take some creative liberties this chapter? Yes. Am I going to apologize for making things even more dramatic? Absolutely not.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               Okay, so things are bad. Really bad, actually. Maybe still fixably bad, but undeniably <em>bad.</em> But you’re not about to start panicking. You’ve gotten this far without panicking once, and it’d be really dumb to start now.</p><p>               You skitter away from the door as you hear slow footsteps come toward it, heading into the piano room and trying to look as innocent as possible—you even tap on a few keys to add to the innocent act.</p><p>               “Kid?”</p><p>               You turn around as the Prince pokes his head in. His face is a bit paler than it was before the talk, and he looks exhausted as he rubs his neck awkwardly.</p><p>               “Uh…I’m really sorry, kid, but…there’s…royal stuff and…” He sighs, then walks over to drop onto the piano bench. “Look. We’ve got to get you home. You’ve probably got family that’s worried sick about you, right? So I can’t have you stay here any longer.”</p><p>               Technically, you don’t, since you won’t actually be born for a few centuries. But that’s not going to help you here. So, instead, you make your eyes very, <em>very </em>big and sad, and you stare up at him pathetically. He automatically puts up a hand to shield his eyes.</p><p>               “<em>Jeez</em>, kid, you can’t do that! It’s not fair at <em>all.</em>”</p><p>               Hmph. You thought being an award-winning actress meant he’d automatically fall for it. Maybe it only works on birds.</p><p>               The Prince gets to his feet. “I really wish you <em>could </em>stay. I do! Heck, I’d make you the official Mailkid of Subcon Forest. But I can’t keep you from home; if I was in your shoes, I’d be awfully homesick.”</p><p>               You’re not sure if it’s the lawyer in him spinning this because he has to, or if he really is genuinely concerned about getting you home. But, if you <em>didn’t </em>know what happens, you’d be really convinced either way that you should be getting home.</p><p>               He gets to his feet, glancing over to the door a bit nervously before he looks back at you. “Tell you what, I’ll walk with you, okay? I can’t promise you I can get you all the way home, but maybe together we can get you going in the right direction.” He shrugs. “Besides, I’m gonna surprise Vanessa with some flowers, so I’ll be going out that way anyway.”</p><p>               <em>Oh. </em>Oh <em>no.</em></p><p>               You know <em>exactly </em>how far back you’ve gone.</p><p>               Now, you figure, you’re allowed to panic.</p><p>               There’s no thinking involved; you just <em>run. </em></p><p>               “Hey, kid! <em>Kid!</em>”</p><p>               The hall deadends, and you nearly stumble as you turn abruptly into the office. You shut the door behind you and lock it. A moment later, the doorknob jiggles, and the entire door shakes with the Prince’s knocks.</p><p>               “Kid! Let me in!”</p><p>               You say nothing. He knocks again.</p><p>               “This is <em>my house! </em>I have a key for this room, you know!”</p><p>               You still stay silent. This wasn’t your smartest plan, but you’ve at least bought yourself a tiny bit of time. The most important thing is to make sure that he doesn’t go anywhere <em>near </em>that flower shop. But how? It’s not like you could tell him, “Hey, just so you know, buying your girlfriend flowers will send her into a violent rage that ends with her being a horrible monster that freezes anyone that gets in her way and turns <em>you </em>into a pretty awful ghost-noodle who likes to take souls and pop people’s heads off.” You just don’t think he’ll buy that.  </p><p>               You hear an irritated huff on the other side of the door, and the jingle of keys. You’re almost out of time, you have to think <em>fast. </em>What could keep him away from that florist?</p><p>               Your eyes fall to his desk—namely, the drawer you opened earlier, the one you know has a contract inside. It <em>must </em>be their marriage license—you saw a movie once where a couple couldn’t get married because they didn’t have one. They <em>definitely </em>wouldn’t want to lose that. You run over to the desk, opening the drawer and pulling out the contract. Just in time, too, because the door swings open right as you hold it up.</p><p>               “Kid?”</p><p>               For one moment, the two of you stare at each other. The Prince blinks, then puts on a smile.</p><p>               “Hey, hand that over here, okay? It’s not something to play with.”</p><p>               You don’t move, and the Prince’s smile falls.</p><p>               “I’m serious, kid. Give that to me.”</p><p>               He takes a step forward, and that’s your chance. You run forward, throwing yourself down to slide around him before you scramble back up to your feet, running straight for the door. You <em>really </em>wish you could pull out your Sprint hat, but there’s no time. Right now you just have to <em>go.</em></p><p>               “Hey! Get back here, kid!”</p><p>              You ignore him.</p><p>              “You know, you’re being a REAL brat right now!”</p><p>               Despite everything, you smile a bit at that. That’s the most Snatcher-like you’ve heard him sound this entire time. All the more reason for you to keep running, and keep a good grip on that contract.</p><p>              You avoid the bridge to Subcon Village, instead making a hard turn from the manor grounds toward what looks like another little village. But you don’t recognize the area you’ve run to—it’s not around by the time you come along. You wonder what could have happened to it.</p><p>               That was a mistake. You slowed down, and that’s given the Prince a chance to catch up. You dodge his first grab, and his second. But your second dodge sends you right toward a tree, and as you try to twist away from it, the Prince manages to grab your arm and stop you dead in your tracks.</p><p>               “<em>Finally</em>,” he huffs, snatching the contract right out of your hand. Despite his obvious irritation, he looks concerned as he looks over the paper, turning it over and examining it from all angles. Finally, he lets out a relieved sigh before returning his gaze to you—mouth in a hard line and dark eyes blazing as he holds up the contract. “<em>You</em>, little girl, do not understand how important this is. This isn’t something you <em>play </em>with.” He lets out a sharp huff as he rolls it up and tucks it inside his coat. “Maybe Vanessa was right. You <em>are </em>a lot more trouble than you’re worth.” He lets out a long breath as he adjusts his coat and crown, then looks around. “But, at least, you took me where I was going anyway.”</p><p>               <em>What?</em></p><p>               You look around frantically, and you audibly gasp as you see a little flower shop just a few yards away, with a happy redheaded woman tending to the bouquets inside. Oh no, oh <em>no. </em>All that work and you led him <em>right </em>to the last place he needed to be. And, as you feel a sick curl in the pit of your stomach, you think you know why this village doesn’t exist by the time you get there.</p><p>               “Look, this is as far as I’m taking you. There are nice people out here, they can help you get home. But I’m <em>out.</em>” You look up at the Prince, shaking your head, and he hesitates for a moment before setting his jaw and turning away, sending a wave over his shoulder as he heads to the flower shop. “Smell ya later, kiddo.”</p><p>               No no no <em>no NO!</em></p><p>              It can’t end like this. You can’t let him walk right to his doom. You can’t let Subcon turn into the dark, haunted place you know.</p><p>               <em>You can still fix this.</em></p><p>               You run forward and, in a fit of desperation, jump up to grab his arm.</p><p>               “Hey!” The Prince nearly falls back as you tug on his sleeve, then scowls down at you. “No, I’m done playing. Go home, kid.”</p><p>               You let out a frustrated whine as he doesn’t listen, and you heave yourself backwards as hard as you can, trying to pull him back. You can do it, you can fix this, you can…</p><p>               The Prince gives his arm a hard pull back, freeing it from your grip, and you hit the ground with a hard thud.</p><p>               “You know, I <em>thought </em>we were getting to be pretty good friends,” the Prince says sharply, straightening out his sleeve as he looks down at you. “But you just don’t know when to call it quits, do you? We’re <em>done</em> here. I’m not helping you anymore, and after being this disrespectful, you really ought to <em>leave my forest.</em>” He leans down, face very stern. “So <em>scram</em>, kiddo.”</p><p>               With that, he sharply turns and heads toward the flower shop. You grit your teeth; falling like that scraped up your elbow and arm pretty bad, but that’s the least of your worries. Yes, you clearly lost the friend you were on the way to making, but that’s not new for you. This time, it might be worth it if he just <em>got away from the flower shop</em>.</p><p>               You push yourself up to your feet. Your arm hurts from the fall and your legs are practically jelly after all that running, but you have to keep going. You can fix this.</p><p>               You make it to the flower shop as the Prince is picking out a bouquet. He doesn’t look all that happy, truth be told, and the flower shop owner seems to notice. You can’t quite hear the joke she’s telling, but it’s enough to get the Prince to crack a smile.</p><p>               You hear whispers behind you, and you turn. The villagers who were meandering about the square were talking to each other excitedly, and now, in a wave, they start to bow. And that’s when you see the green dress and the blonde hair. Vanessa’s practically skipping in, and you feel your blood freeze—for once, it has nothing to do with her.</p><p>               She sees you first, and her happy expression falters. And that’s when she looks over toward the flower shop. Right as the Prince laughs at another one of the florist’s joke. Right as his hand meets hers to drop some coins in her palm.  </p><p>               The sob Vanessa lets out is loud enough to be echo through the whole square, and everyone immediately turns—including the Prince and the florist. But Vanessa’s quick, and by the time the Prince is out in the town square, she’s already on her way back to the manor. He picks up his pace, and you follow after him. There’s no plan this time, and the reality of what’s about to happen is settling in. But you, you stubborn, <em>stubborn</em> idiot, you just can’t let things lie. You still have one sliver of hope left as you  run into the house, right on the Prince’s heels.</p><p>               “Vanessa!”</p><p>               “<em>You don’t love me.</em>” Vanessa is standing right in the hallway, facing a now-shredded portrait of the prince, and yet it seems like her voice comes from everywhere. You duck as the lamps throughout the room start to explode, one by one, until the entire manor is consumed by darkness.</p><p>               The Prince, though obviously startled, bravely takes a step toward her. “Vanessa, of <em>course </em>I love you! I…”</p><p><em>              “LIAR!!</em>”</p><p>               The manor grows even darker, and in the shadows, she seems to twist and warp in front of you.</p><p>               “<em>You can’t give me your whole heart. You care too much about this stupid forest.</em>” Every word seems to come from a new part of the house. Her head turns, and you catch a bright flash of blood red eyes, shards of ice falling freely from them before shattering on the floor.</p><p>              “<em>But I’m finished playing, my prince.” </em>A clawed hand strikes out to the side, and a blast of ice shatters through the windows. Through the holes in the wall, you watch helplessly as ice overtakes the village you were just in—freezing everything solid, the exact way you found it when you arrived the first time.</p><p>              The flowers fall to the floor, and you finally wrench your eyes away to see the Prince drop to his knees. His eyes are fixed on the now-frozen forest, a horrible, hollow look in them. He looks like someone snatched his soul right out from his body.</p><p>              “<em>And YOU!”</em></p><p>              You turn away from the Prince to see Vanessa skittering toward you, fast as anything. You let out a cry as her clawed hand darts out toward you. You try to scramble back, but there’s nowhere to hide in the hall. And once that icy touch gets to your skin, you’ll…</p><p>               Just as she’s one lunge away from you, a blur of red darts between the two of you.</p><p>               “You will <em>not </em>hurt her.”</p><p>               You look up. The Prince is standing tall, and Vanessa’s surprised enough to falter backwards.</p><p>               “<em>My prince…”</em></p><p>               “I’m not your prince, Vanessa.”</p><p>               For a moment, you’re certain you did it. The Prince stood up to Vanessa, he broke free from her. You really managed to fix at least one very, very small, but so, so important part of this story. And Vanessa starts to shift backward, looking cowed.</p><p>                “<em>I…But I…</em>” A low noise starts somewhere deep in the house, then grows louder and louder, until it’s a shriek that makes the pictures and empty lamp sconces tremble.</p><p>                 “<em>GUARDS!</em>”</p><p>               All at once, two massive suits of armor spring to life, a blood red glow shining from beneath their helms. Before either of you can do anything, you and the Prince are hoisted into their arms. You both try to struggle, but they hold you tight.</p><p>               Vanessa’s grown into a horrible, shapeless dark mass, and she seems to melt right into the darkness as she shifts forward toward the Prince. One clawed hand darts out to grip his face; he hisses and shudders, trying to get away but to no avail.</p><p>               <em>“All I wanted was your heart, my prince. And I AM going to get all of it.” </em>He lets out a cry as her claws dig into his skin. “<em>You shouldn’t have tested me like this. We could have been happy if you’d just LOVED ME.</em>”</p><p>              She finally lets him go, then, from every corner of the house, her voice rings out, “<em>TAKE THEM TO THE DUNGEON!</em>”</p><p>               And, as the two of you are carted down the stairs, you realize you’ve been lying to yourself. You can’t fix this.</p><p>              You can’t fix this at all.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               The dungeon is more of a storage room than a dungeon, but everything is significantly less rusted and dilapidated than when you were in there before. The suits of armor seem to silently discuss which of you goes where, unbothered by your or the Prince’s struggles. Eventually, they split up. You’re chucked into the cell, and as you skid onto the floor, you hear the heavy sound of chains and a lock.</p><p>               “Release me! Take these off! You’re part of <em>MY house, </em>you stupid tin cans!”</p><p>               The suits of armor don’t reply, and you hear metal footsteps go back up the stairs.</p><p>               “No, <em>NO! </em>Come back!” The Prince’s voice becomes steadily more frantic. “Let me go! I’ll fix things! <em>Vanessa! VANESSA!</em>”</p><p>               You pick yourself up finally, taking a moment to check between two kegs for the shortcut you’d found last time. But the wall’s still in one piece, and you figure it’s going to take a few hundred years of water damage before that passage will show up. For a moment, you simply lean against the wall. You’ve dealt with a lot up to this point—more than probably any of your friends from back home have—but seeing the entirety of Subcon frozen just…</p><p>               You really miss home.</p><p>               You look up as you hear the clanging of metal hitting the floor, and you run over to the cell wall. From the back corner, you can see the Prince; he’s flailing hard against the manacles that hold him, trying to push against the walls and twist his way out of them. But with the cuffs so high up on his arms and holding him off the ground, it looks like he’s more likely to dislocate his shoulders than anything else. His crown had hit the ground, apparently, and you watch silently as the contract from inside his coat follows. After a bit more struggling, he finally lets himself fall back, head hitting the wall as he lets out a sound somewhere between a sob and a frustrated yell.</p><p>               “Stupid, <em>stupid, STUPID!</em>” The words echo against the stone walls. “I should never…what was the <em>point?</em> I try to help <em>you</em>—” He punctuates the word by twisting around to glare at you. “—and all it does is make Vanessa mad at me. And then I try to make it up to <em>her</em>, and she becomes…whatever she is now. I spend my <em>whole life </em>trying to do right by Subcon, only for it to…” He chokes before he can finish the sentence, then shakes his head. “I am <em>through </em>helping anyone! If I survive this, I’m not putting my neck out for a single person <em>ever again!</em>”</p><p>               The room grows darker, and in the shadows, you swear you can see something edging toward the Prince’s feet. You know what’s about to happen, and you swallow hard.</p><p>Then, very softly, you say, “Sorry.”</p><p>               The Prince looks up at you, surprised, and the room gets a little less dark. He sighs, going limp.</p><p>               “No, no. You shouldn’t be sorry, kid. You never should’ve been caught up in this.” His head falls back, and he lets out a humorless chuckle. “I really should’ve gotten a jump on that renovation, huh?”</p><p>               You lean your forehead against the bars for a moment, then walk over to the opposite corner of your cage and pull out your umbrella. The crown is too far to reach, but you just might be able to get the contract and keep a hold of it. You know it won’t change things, but considering how much the Prince wanted it, you feel like it’s at least <em>something </em>nice you can do before the end.</p><p>               You try once, but the angle’s wrong. You try again, and you’re <em>so </em>close. Your arm’s just a little too short, but maybe if you push just a <em>little </em>harder.</p><p>               “Leave it, kid.” You can’t see the Prince from this angle, but you can still feel just how sad he is by his voice alone. “It can’t do any good now.”</p><p>               You move back to your original corner, looking at him curiously as you point at it, and he shakes his head.</p><p>               “It’s a prenup. That’s…it’s a thing people can get before they get married, that spells out who owns what and how things get divvied up after a death or divorce.” He bites his lip. “I love…<em>loved</em>…Vanessa, but she was never going to care about my forest. She hardly even cared about <em>her</em> domain, and once we were married, it’d just be one more area that’d be ignored. So I thought, if I could get her to sign this, I’d be able to keep control over it.” He sighs, going limp in the manacles. “But it’s a moot point now. All because I bought some stupid flowers.” He makes a noise that’s a very sad excuse for a laugh. “I guess I should’ve paid attention when you were bothering me. Now we’re <em>both </em>screwed.” He goes silent for a moment, brow furrowing, then looks up at you. “You…you <em>knew</em>, didn’t you? About the flowers?”</p><p>               There’s no point in lying now, so you silently nod.</p><p>               “But…<em>how</em>? I mean,  you <em>just</em> showed up here and…” He shakes his head. “Actually, no. No, I don’t want to know. I don’t know how long we’ll be down here, and I’ve read enough to know that that kind of information makes you go crazy. I don’t need that on top of everything else.”</p><p>               You figure that’s fair, and you sit down with a sigh. For a moment, the two of you are quiet.</p><p>               “Actually, no, it’s gonna bother me too much not to know. Tell me.”</p><p>               You look up at him, then scratch your head. You’re not sure how much he knows about Time Pieces, and explaining the whole thing of how future him was going to trick you into contracts, steal your soul, and attempt to murder you before you contractually obligate <em>him </em>into a very one-sided friendship was…probably not going to go well.</p><p>               But you still have the storybook, at least. So you dig into your backpack, and a pang goes through you as you see the second Time Piece still sitting there. You could just use it now. Go forward again, and if you clean up the Time Rifts, maybe he won’t remember this. Things will just progress as they did before, but without your crippling failure coloring the scene. Or maybe you could go back and try again…</p><p>               But what if you fail again, and make things even <em>worse</em>?</p><p>               “Kid? You okay?”</p><p>               This is awful. You should have just gone back right away. Because it’s not enough that you failed, but in a way, you were <em>part </em>of this whole thing. You helped turn Vanessa into what she is. You were part of the reason Subcon Forest was frozen. And ultimately, you’re now part of the reason why the Prince becomes Snatcher.</p><p>               You rub your eyes, then push the Time Piece aside to pull out the storybook. It won’t help. It might make things worse. But…if you’ve already caused all of this trouble, you might as well let the Prince know what he’s in for. So you take a breath, then scoot over as close as you can to him. You stick the storybook outside of the bars of your cage, then flip through the pages.</p><p>               The Prince is silent as you go through the pages, and he stays silent as you close the book and put it back in your backpack.</p><p>               “That’s how it ends?” he finally asks. “I just get left down here until…until I’m consumed by darkness or whatever?”</p><p>               You nod sadly. The prince stares at you, then sighs and lets his head fall forward. You sigh as well, leaning against the cage. What a horrible ending this is.</p><p>               But then you hear something strange. The Prince starts to laugh—really laugh, not anything like the pained chuckles from a few minutes ago. It grows louder and louder, echoing off the stone walls of the basement, and it starts to sound less like the laugh that accompanies a joke and more like a laugh that’s followed by “<em>FOOOOOOOL!!</em>”</p><p>               You hop up to your feet, gripping the bars of your cage as the laughing continues, until finally the Prince lets his head fall forward, still chuckling and wearing a smile that is not the least bit reassuring.</p><p>               “Well, then,” he says in a low voice that sounds all too familiar, “why put off the inevitable?”</p><p>               The shadows that have been lurking by the Prince’s feet spring up, covering every inch of space in the dungeon. You scramble back, trying to avoid them, but you can’t keep your eyes off the Prince. He stays very still as the darkness wraps around him like a cocoon—climbing up and leaving every bit of him shrouded in shadow except for his dark eyes. They fix on you for one moment, then they close. When they open again, all that’s left are two bright yellow lights, followed by a big yellow grin that splits across his face.</p><p>               Finally, you force yourself to shut your eyes and back up against the wall. You know this isn’t something you want to see, and you cover your eyes until you hear the manacles clang against the wall. Finally, you peek your eyes open as you hear another laugh.</p><p>               And Snatcher grins back at you.</p><p>               “Thanks for the inspiration, kiddo. Sounds like you saved me a lot of time,” he says, making his way in front of your cage. His mouth can’t quite stay put, but you notice the grin growing wider. “In fact, I think I owe you some kind of reward for that.”</p><p>It’s been a while since you’ve actually been scared of him, but you feel just as nervous as you did when you first ran across him in Subcon Forest. You run to the door of your cell and try to open it, but unsurprisingly, it’s locked. You move back to the center of the room, watching as Snatcher looks over at the contract still on the floor. It floats up and opens, and the words on the page shift and spin. When it stops, you’re looking at a very, <em>very </em>familiar looking contact.</p><p>               “Here’s the deal, kid. I said I wanted you to stay, and now here’s your chance!”</p><p>               You hesitate, then walk over to look at the contract though the bars.</p><p>               <em>Your eternal servitude and residence in Subcon Forest in exchange for getting out of here.</em></p><p>               He hasn’t figured out the soul thing yet, but that’s the least of your worries. You look up at him and shake your head right as you hear a horrible scratching noise from upstairs. You turn to look at the basement door, and your heart races as you see the doorknob start to freeze.</p><p>               “It’s your choice, but I’d take it if I were you,” Snatcher says with a dark chuckle. “I know Vanessa better than anyone, and she’s <em>furious </em>with you. And when she’s furious, we both know that bad things happen. So you <em>really </em>ought to sign.”</p><p>               You back away, looking up as you hear the door creak open.</p><p>               “Better hurry, kiddo!”</p><p>               <em>“My prince…”</em></p><p>               There doesn’t seem to be a way out. Except that there is, and now you realize you probably should have taken it sooner. You dig into your backpack and pull out the Time Piece.</p><p>               “Is that…you’ve had a <em>Time Piece </em>this whole time?” Snatcher’s smile drops, and he throws himself toward the cage bars, reaching through. “<em>Give it to me!</em>”</p><p>               You shake your head. He hasn’t figured out he can go through objects yet, apparently.</p><p>               “You don’t know what that can do, kid! Give it here, I can <em>fix things!</em>’ The desperation in Snatcher’s voice catches you off-guard, and you hesitate just one moment too long.</p><p>               <em>“What are you doing, my prince?”</em></p><p>               The door opens, and Vanessa’s red eyes flash from the doorway just as Snatcher pushes himself through the bars and lunges at you. You’re out of time.</p><p>               So you throw the Time Piece down, and you hope for the best.</p><p>~</p><p>               “I’m not giving you anything else, kid. Get lost.”</p><p>               You’re still shaking from a moment ago, but you’re in a warmly lit hollow tree, staring at a bookshelf. You don’t move a muscle, still catching your breath. It worked. It worked better than it should have, actually, and you’re not sure how you ended up here instead of the basement, but you’ve never cared less about anything in your entire life.</p><p>               “Legally, I’m not able to kill you right now. But you really should know that I’ve mentally killed you at least eight times in this visit alone.”</p><p>               Your head starts to spin, and you feel woozy. A time jump is still a time jump, after all, and that was a <em>very </em>big jump forward. You should probably lay down, so you do—face first onto the floor.</p><p>               “Wait, did it work? And here I thought all those books on the power of positive thinking were a load of crock!”</p><p>               You stay put on the floor, keeping your eyes shut. You got out safe, but just <em>hearing </em>Snatcher is enough to remind you of how much you messed up. All that work, and things are still the same.</p><p>               You’re not a crier, as a general rule, but you can feel a big sob threatening to come out. But you swallow it down. Crying doesn’t help, and you still have a lot of clean up to do. And a long way to go before you get back home. You push yourself up, rub your eyes, and take a deep breath before heading out of the house.</p><p>               “Hey, kid.”</p><p>               You stop, swallowing hard, then turn back to look back. Snatcher’s gaze is still fixed on his book, but it doesn’t look like he’s reading. Finally, he looks up at you.</p><p>               “Those Time Pieces you’re looking for, a lot of people are trying to get them from you for a chance to fix their lives, right?”</p><p>               You nod.</p><p>               “Thought so.” He closes his book. “Look, I’ve been around a lot longer that most of those dummies you’ve run into, and I know I’ve done a <em>lot </em>more reading.” He lets out a sigh that sounds somewhere between disappointed and irritated. “You can’t change the past with ‘em. No matter how hard you try, whatever happens is always going to happen.”</p><p>               You wait for him to say something else, but he just opens his book again. You sigh, then turn and make your way out.</p><p>               “So don’t beat yourself up over it, okay, kiddo?”</p><p>               You stop in place as, for one moment, you hear the Prince. You turn back around, but Snatcher is still reading. After a minute, he looks up at you.</p><p>               “Weren’t you <em>leaving</em>?” he asks snidely. “Unless you’re planning on dying like a <em>nice </em>kid would, I want you out of <em>my </em>forest.”</p><p>               You smile a bit despite yourself, then nod and, for once, leave the forest when he asks. You’ll be back, obviously; there’s a lot of clean up to do to scrub your meddling out of this story. But, for a little bit, you figure it’s okay to keep a friend, even if he’s left in a past you can’t change.  </p><p>                               </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>(And then you do Death Wish mode and hate him again.)</p><p>Thanks so much for reading! This has been probably the fastest I've ever written a multi-chapter fic, and I'm glad you've joined me for it! Your kudos and comments give me life, and I'm always willing to chat headcanons and such in the comments and over at slusheeduck.tumblr.com!</p><p>And now I can finally REST.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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